Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he plans to introduce any (a) new financial penalties or (b) changes to interest rates relating to the Governments decision to resume the process of selling part of plan 1, English student loan book, announced on 31 October 2017, and if he will make a statement.

The government has been clear throughout the sale process that borrowers, including those whose loans have been sold, will not be affected by the sale. The sale arrangements ensure that the sale does not and cannot in any way alter the mechanisms and terms of repayment. Sold loans will continue to be serviced by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs and the Student Loans Company on the same basis as unsold loans. Purchasers have no right to change any of the current loan arrangements or to directly contact borrowers.